What's Becoming of Empire Zones?
Alexis pointed out to me that there have been several articles in recent issues of the Capital District Business Review regarding the upcoming changes in qualifying for business tax credits under New York's Empire Zone program. Here's what's happening, in a nutshell: 1) Recent legislation states that businesses that qualified under the 2008 provisions of the law will now have to re-apply in 2009 under new guidelines. 2) There are roughly 9,000 companies in New York that currently qualify. The new legislation a) will remove companies that fail to meet a ratio of at least $1 of wages & investment for every $1 received as a credit from the state; b) requires new applicants to meet a $20-to-$1 ratio ($10-to-$1 for manufacturers); and c) ends the program on June 30, 2010 (a year earlier than previously scheduled). Empire State Development has been charged with verifying which companies among the current 9,000 are still eligible. ESD plans to have much of this process finish